When we talk about the ones that got away for Chelsea, it is all too common to stop at Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne.
But the last couple of days should have offered a reminder that at least one more name should be part of the list – goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, however sore Chelsea fans remain over his forced move to Real Madrid in 2018.
Just 24 hours or so after Real and Courtois were drawn to face Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, the Belgian’s replacement, Kepa Arrizabalaga, provided another reminder of his shortcomings.
That may seem harsh on a player who last week was handed an international recall by Spain and has shown plenty of character to win back his Chelsea place and perform well in spells this season.
But Courtois would have saved the late Ellis Simms shot that robbed Chelsea of all three points on Saturday night, as would virtually all of the Premier League’s top keepers and some of those at clubs in the bottom half of the table.
Courtois is undoubtedly one of the best goalkeepers in the world, if not the best, but it could not be argued with any confidence that Kepa is even the best goalkeeper at Chelsea.
Kepa is not a bad goalkeeper and is capable of making good saves, but he rarely comes up with the decisive moment. His form is also usually patchy, rather than consistent.
The goal Kepa conceded in the 89th minute against Everton at Stamford Bridge on Saturday was no howler and the big mistakes have become fewer and farther between. But it was another example of the fact that he’s still not the man for a rescue act. He was also indecisive on Abdoulaye Doucoure’s goal, neither challenging the man for the ball nor defending his line.
There is not a club in the top half of the League table, together with a few below them, who would swap their keeper for Kepa and that should tell Chelsea everything they need to know.
Pep Guardiola had to go to Manchester City, Jurgen Klopp had to go to Liverpool, Mikel Arteta did to Arsenal and Graham Potter will have to change his goalkeeper if Chelsea are to achieve their long-term goals.
Edouard Mendy has returned to training and maybe Potter will have another look at him before the season ends, given that the Senegal international was voted the best goalkeeper in the world for the season in which Chelsea won the Champions League.
Mendy had to be incredible in that 2021 Champions League run for Chelsea to conquer Europe, but his form dropped away last season and it is now questionable whether or not he can get back to that level.
If he cannot, then Chelsea will need to buy a top goalkeeper in the summer because doing so will simply not work. Spending over £600 million on transfers, but hoping the guy deemed not good enough by the past two managers might magically turn into a world-beater makes no sense.
Arteta proved with Aaron Ramsdale that you don’t always have to spend a fortune to sign the right goalkeeper, but fudging the situation by signing someone to simply compete with Kepa will not do. Chelsea needs a guaranteed upgrade.
Much of the attention on Chelsea’s squad has centered around the need for an out-and-out striker, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang again out of favor.
But the goalkeeping situation will be equally important if this new-look Chelsea team is to become one that competes regularly for trophies.
Chelsea fans like to consider an alternate reality in which Salah and De Bruyne had both stayed at the club, but keeping Courtois would have avoided an issue which has sometimes been papered over but has never truly gone away.